Just what the name says and just what I needed. I drop off my vintage amplifier, share the destination and packaging notes, pay, and they pack it up safely and send it on its way. It could not have been easier. (The packaging served for the round trip to an amplifier repair shop, and the amplifier came back in perfect shape) read more

I needed to ship an enamel dutch oven safely over the holidays, and I'm so glad I trusted Alex and Handle with Care to do this. I'd never shipped anything fragile before and I didn't trust my packing skills, so I'm so grateful the delicate cookware was carefully wrapped and shipped, arriving safely to its destination. They are the only business I will go to in the future for careful shipping! Their pricing was also reasonable, which I very much appreciated. Thank you again, Alex! read more

Extremely accommodating, patient, helpful, and kind folks work at this store. I mailed out a few things over the last week, and from the massive furniture return (curse you, Wayfair!) to eBay boxes, I received such personal and personable service that it turned around my entire day. Thank you! read more

Super convenient and helpful shipping spot. The men who work here are always friendly and helpful. The parking is easy. I use them mostly for drop off of UPS and FedEx packages I'm sending, but by the looks of the store they also do sophisticated and complicated packing and shipping work. They also sell shipping supplies. read more

snarky, unprofessional, dismissive, uninformed i would not recommend this shipping service for high end items But if you like a sort of aged, back to the future vibe and a lot of unpleasant mansplaining, this is your joint read more

We had a large amount of valuable Art and glassware Stored in Santa Barbara warehouse. Wished it carefully packed and shipped to our new home in Kirkland Washington . Charlie at Handle With Care Packaging, did this, with excellent communication and delivery results. We chose a White Glove Service. Every piece from 6 foot delicately carved Art pieces to crystal wine glasses, arrived and were unpacked flawlessly!! What a pleasure to experience what Fine Service! HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM. Stephen & rita Anderson read more

They handled my package beautifully, sent it out on time, I very much recommend Handle With care Packaging Store, they will take care of you from start to finish. thanks guys! read more

They were very nice to accommodate me. I showed up after they closed ( thougt it closed later) and he opened the door and took care of me. Nice to support local businesses that offer this kind of friendly, personal service. read more

I brought in a package with a prepaid FedEx return label. While they don't offer ALL the services that a dedicated FedEx site would, the benefits outweigh the negatives. Cons: they won't package your item even if the company prepaid for it; they don't give you a receipt for the return. Pros: free parking right in front of the store; friendly staff; super convenient location; supporting a local business. Even if they don't provide return receipts you can take a pic of the tracking number on the label. And its not a big deal to box up the item myself. So glad to have this service in the neighborhood! read more

Handle With Care did an exceptional job packing my coffee machine, so it could be sent for repair. They did a much better packing job than I would have, and probably saved me at least an hour, compared to my initial plan... just buying a box and bubble wrap from them. Their charge for diligently and efficiently packing it ended up being less than $5. This place is really good. Excellent and courteous service. Great experience. read more

I wanted to say how I really appreciate every individual staff member here. I believe I've met them all. This is by far the best delivery and packaging place ever! I am thankful to all of you. I will definifely bring some snacks. Gotta ask them if they are allergic to anything. Thanks again! They have a parking lot here. Fyi: They do not scan prepaid Amazon returns. You will have to print that yourself. read more

A+ professionals. They have all been there long term and they know exactly what they are doing. The things that have gone through their store while I have been a customer constantly amaze me: large ceramic objects, sculpture, inlaid antique tables, etc. And their prices are very reasonable. I just buy little sundries in there, and they treat me well every time. I look forward to going in. read more

I first used this business a few years ago when I had a delicate femo clay statue to ship, and their yellow pages listing said that they specialize in fragile shipments. In all honesty, I have to say that I never thought about ease of shipping when I sculpted the Elder Thing and selected the base for it; and I was completely at a loss as to how I was ever going to get it to its destination in one piece. Well, the statue got there in perfect condition, and well in time for Christmas. So did the statue the next year, and the year after that. And also the frozen chicken cacciatore I sent to my father across the bay for his birthday. And I know that the glass-framed gnome portrait I shipped at The Packaging Store today will also arrive in perfect condition, and in a timely manner. The very best thing about this place is that they see me coming in time and again with eccentric works of art, and they never raise an eyebrow! They are so nice, and really good at what they do. read more

Really great packing and shipper. I bought a sculpture that they carefully packed at a great price and shipped via FedEx to me in NJ. FedEx delivers it to the wrong address! I was mortified. I called this shipper in a panic. They got right on it, contacted FedEx who retrieved my package and delivered it the next day. It was packed beautifully and looks great in my living room. Thank you gentlemen, you do a fine job! read more

I bought a marble sculpture from an auction house in Oakland, Ca - I live in Dallas, Tx. Since this company was one of several shippers listed with the auction house, I emailed them requesting an estimate for the item I bought. They responded with an estimate of approximately $130.00. I agreed and asked them to proceed with the shipping. Having not heard from them in about 2 weeks, I emailed them asking for a status. They told me their original estimate of $130.00 would need to be increased to approximately $600.00, close to 5 times the original estimate. I was floored by this and could not possibly pay this much. I scurried around and found another shipper who was grossly more reasonable, and contracted with him to pick up the sculpture from Handle With Care. I emailed HWC telling them what I decided to do and said that the new shipper would contact them and arrange for a pickup. When the new shipper arrived at HWC, he was told they would not release the sculpture unless a $25.00 fee was paid for HAC's picking up the sculpture from the auction house. When HAC called me and told me the same thing, I was beside myself and told them what I thought about that! To top it off, they said that if I had called them and told them to take the sculpture back to the auction house, there would have been no $25.00 charge!!!!! Talk about lunacy - this is it! So, my shipper paid the $25.00 just to get out of there. I contacted HAC and requested that I be reimbursed the $25.00 but have never heard back. The moral of this story is never use this company unless you don't mind being nickeled-and-dimed and treated unfairly. I deal with the auction house mentioned quite often, but HWC will never be used by me again! read more

I'm very pleased with my experience with Handle With Care Packaging Store in Oakland. I called them to arrange for pickup, packaging and shipping to me a framed with glass artwork I won online at an auction place in Oakland and that I had already paid for. Communication was easy and clear with Vance. I provided the lot number and auction info and item dimensions. He also looked up the item info on the web. Soon after we spoke he called me back with cost for the service that would be final unless the item would be much heavier than anticipated. I agreed and paid, and then notified the auction place about the service place I chose. The Handle With Care Packaging Store had my artwork picked up, packaged very well with foam, bubble-wrap, cardboard around, and plenty of packing peanuts, and shipped to me with FedEx with no incidence. read more

I do not recommend using this business to ship your items. I've used them for years and my patience is now gone. I'm tired of the ridiculous pricing, the emails and phone calls not being returned, tracking not being provided..and the last straw was seeing today that they overcharged my card for my shipment. They were never great to work with but are now terrible in my experience. No more and I will be disputing the charge they put on my card. read more

Bad delivery service. They dont really tend to your packages correctly and the drivers steal packages, knowing that their company want do any real follow ups. Had a package stolen and complained about, they didn't contact me back and when I called to follow up, they just threw me to the side ed and said it was my problem for them stealing my package read more

Things I learned this weekend: 1. I will NEVER ever attempt to sell anything on eBay ever again. EVER. AGAIN. 2. contrary to popular belief, packaging centers/stores typically don't actually like (nor want) to package things. 3. after much trial and error, UPS ground seems to be the cheapest way of shipping things cross-country. 3. if I ever have to ship something fragile again (say it ain't so), Handle With Care Packaging Store is the first and only place I will head to for said investment. Why Handle With Care was/is AWESOME: Last weekend was a bit of a nightmare. After successfully selling a painting on eBay for my first time, and thinking I had accurately estimated the shipping costs (I had guessed $50), I spent the good part of last Friday visiting 8 packaging stores in the East Bay in the hopes of getting said art shipped to Pennsylvania. Needless to say, I had no clue just how frustrating this mission would turn out to be. And how many people I would meet who clearly just did not want to even entertain the thought of helping me box up my rather large (albeit very light weight) piece of art (for details, see my review for the The Mailbox on Fruitvale Ave. :/ ). That is, until I walked into Handle With Care towards the end of the day. I was recommended to give HWCPS a try by the UPS store on Piedmont Ave., after being told it would take at least a week for them (UPS) to special order a box large enough to fit my painting. I should note, they weren't even able to give me an estimate of how much the box and packing supplies would cost, only that it would be "quite expensive". Walking into Handle With Care, I already felt defeated. They were my very last try, and honestly at that point I was more than ready to swallow the eBay and PayPal fees and toss the stupid painting in the nearest dumpster and call it a day. But to my amazement, I didn't have to. The guy behind the desk at HWC said, "Sure, we can help you with that" - the first positive statement I had heard all day! He then reviewed my options with me which bottom line were either a) purchasing a couple boxes that I could "telescope together" - something other shops had mentioned although no other shops I had encountered had boxes large enough for even that possibility or b) having the shop make a custom box for me. Both options would cost roughly the same price, around $35. I should also add that this was by far the cheapest estimate I had been given all day, with the average estimate being around $80 (for yes, just packing my 3' x 3' framed canvas in a box!). I was then introduced to Alex who has been building customized boxes for just under 30 years. He was totally friendly, engaged, considerate, and it was instantly clear to me, for the first time that day, that these guys could not only tell how frustrated and disheartened I was, but that they seemed like they actually wanted to help me and try to figure out the cheapest and fastest way for me to get the thing boxed and shipped ASAP. Also not only was Alex not intimidated in the slightest by my awkward sized painting, but it seemed like he enjoys building boxes. This is what he does, and he's good at it! Another first from my day of interacting with various UPS and FedEx employees who would much rather accept an already packaged item that they can just slap a label on. Not only did Alex stick to his word on the $35 price point but he did an excellent and super timely job of packing my item (ready first thing the next morning). He was also surprisingly forthcoming about shipping costs. He didn't think they would be able to beat the price I had been quoted at the UPS shop and suggested I have them send it since the shipping time was not an issue for me. In summary, I really can't say just how appreciative I am of experiencing such excellent customer service. Sadly, these days it's such a rare occurrence that when it happens it kind of makes your day. Actually, these guys kind of made my month! read more

The stoner who deals with customers is very annoying. He told me lots of wrong information. My move cost twice what the estimate said it would. Much of my stuff was broken when it finally arrived. Stuff had been packed so that heavy stuff was on top on two of the pallets. One pallet fell and had lots of breakage. On the other pallet very heavy things were placed inside a bookcase and one of the shelves tore out of the bookcase. When I complained they said that since I hadn't bought insurance, they were under no obiligation to pack in any particular manner. Oh, and they used SAIA Trucking to actually ship the pallets. But SAIA didn't get all the money, so SAIA sends me nasty letters. read more

Just used the Packaging Store to pick up an item I purchased at auction and to package and ship it. They responded promptly to my request for an estimate, came in with the lowest quote and timely picked up and packed my item, which arrived safely. I would use them again. 6/28/14 update: I've now used the Packaging Store several times to pick up, pack and ship items. It continues to deliver excellent service at competitive prices. When I've received the deliveries, the items have been well packed. I'm based in Chicago so my dealings have been over the phone and by email but even so, I've found the service to be personable. read more

I've used the several times, always professional and have never had any issues with price or something I shipped arriving with any problems. They are my go to place for packing or for buying supplies. Excellent customer service. read more

I had an excellent experience with them mailing delicate objects (including 2 18th century paintings to a small museum). That review from 2007 is completely bogus. The store uses Fed-Ex and they know how to pack art objects. If you have something precious to you, use them. If you just want cheap, go to the UPS store (not one in Oakland gets a good rating...even the one in Moraga is overloaded). And if you have a crap load of stuff hire a real moving company and pay $$$$ or suffer for your stupidity. Excellent store...right next to HoneyBaked Ham. read more

I've been coming here for nine years now for shipping and boxes, never been dissatisfied. Service is always friendly and prices are reasonable. read more

They have everything you need to ship. Even odd sizes. Nice people too!

I went there after reading the reviews which generally rated Handle With Care highly and since I'm an Oakland resident I went to the one on Piedmont Avenue. The guy there, probably the proprietor, couldn't have been nicer. Shipping an full size umbrella is not that easy but he offered me a solution using some used packaging which was perfect and cost an astoundingly low price of $4. I really appreciate someone looking out for the customer rather than selling as much as possible. Given this experience and the stuff I saw that he was shipping for others I can enthusiastically recommend that it's the place to go for your packaging/shipping needs. read more

Very pleased! We have used them several times to ship hard to pack items to the East Coast. They gave very accurate (and reasonable) quotes, which they kept once we came in to the store. Very professional. One of the shipments arrived damaged. They were very prompt in working with us and with the insurance to get us reimbursed. Highly recommend. read more

I took a tricky item to Handle With Care Packaging Store to ship home to San Diego. It was a piece of Mexican folk art, basically a clay tree of life with a lot of delicate pieces on wires and made of clay. So yeah, I was a bit worried. They did a wonderful job and the item arrived in one perfect piece. The cost was very reasonable and the staff was friendly and made the shipping easy. read more

Not all stores created equal....price these guys gave me was $30 more than another store and kept trying to upsell products and insurance. He kept saying UPS can't handle large fragile packages? Is he in the right business ??? read more

I had to ship some fragile shipments and they were able to package them up securely and ship them out so they would not be damaged in transit. read more

DON'T GET ANYTHING AT THIS STORE!!! I called this store on Piedmont Ave to get a price for a box to ship a TV. The guy who answered the phone kept trying to upsell me extra boxes, packing material and telling me how expensive it was going to be if I didn't ship with them. When I told him that I wasn't interested in other stuff and that I only needed 1 box, he refused to quote me a price or sell to me. Seems like this store will only sell to you if they can milk you for everything they can. read more

Great service. I had to ship a phone system (wires, control board and four phones) to Texas and another shipment to Argentina. It was wonderful to be able to bring the items in, fill out a simple form, pay a fair price and leave, knowing I would get an email confirmation regarding delivery. Both recipients confirmed not only that the packages arrived on time, but that they were very well packed. read more